Refrigerator.



V. A. DE CANIO.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I4. 1914.

1 94,334? Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

Zsnnentor h'afafl 176 5 (1/7/0.

V. A. DE CANIO.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14. 1914.

1,2Q4L347. Patnted Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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VICTOR A. DE CANIO, 0F UNION HILL, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 LORILLARDREFRIGERATOR (30., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

REFRIGERATGR.

Application filed April 14', 1914.

To all whom it may concern 'Be it known that T, VICTOR A. DE OANIo, acitizen of the United States, residing at Union Hill, in the county ofHudson and State of- New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refrigerators; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same. I

This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to thattype wherein the articles stored in said refrigerators are placed in aseries of drawers.

The primary object of thepresent invention is to secure the greatestresults from the refrigerant by preventing the escape of cold air as faras possible, either when the ice is replaced or the food is inserted orremoved.

The secondary object is to provide facilities for cleaning out allcompartments, while avoiding complication in structure.

Further objects will be apparent from the following specification,appended claims and drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device with two of the drawerspartly withdrawn, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device showingseveral of the parts moved revealing the construction thereof, and, Fig.

3 is a perspective view of one of the drawers removed.

as far as possible. Obviously this is accomplished by having it open ator near the bottom as little in space or time as may be. As

for the ice, I insert that through the top.

The melted ice or drippings must be carried off through the bottom, butthe escape of cold air through the drain pipe is negligible. As for thefood, that cannot always be conveniently inserted through the top and Itherefore insert it through the front though not through the medium ofthe large door ordinarily employed. When such a door is swung open theentire front of a good-sized food compartment whose air is chilled, isexposed to and placed in direct contact with the warmer air of the room,with the result that the cool and heavier air in the box flows out atthe bottom and the Warmer and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. "3, 1916.

Serial No. 831,820.

lighter air in the room flows in at the top, and even while the userisinserting or removing a dish the current thus set up automaticallywill rob the food compartment of so much of its chilled air that by thetime the front door is again closed the temperature 1n such compartmenthas risen materially. Thereafter the work of reducing that temperatureor re-chilling the air in the food compartment from that in the icecompartment is resumed, and the ice depleted accordingly. Broadlyspeaking, I propose to avoid this condition which is prevalent in mostmakes of ice boxes, by adopting a structure in which, not only will theentire front not be swung open to gain access to the food compartment,but it is not even necessary to open it simultaneously at both a highpoint and a low point. Therefore there is no opportunity for the coldair at the bottom to flow out and the warmer air at the top to flow inand take its place. In other words, I have evolved the theory that ifthe front of the ice box he opened so as to expose the chilled foodcompartment to the warmer air in the room only in transverse strips orzones, the efiect on the chilled air will be much less marked thanusual.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals indicatesimilar parts throughout the several views, there is shown a frame orbox 10 of usual construction for ice boxes, which is provided withopenings in its top closed by hinged covers 11, and a hinged door 12closing the otherwise open front, said hinged covers 11 when closed,cover side compartmentsin which tanks 13 are suspended, and into thesetanks the cooling element such asice is placed from above withoutopening the door 12.

The space between the tanks 13 is adapted to receive a series of slidesmade in the form of drawers 14, and these drawers are slidable inchanneled guides 15 secured inside of the box 10 and separated from eachother to allow space therebetween through which air circulation may behad. These guides may be secured at their ends to upright strips 5within the corners of the box, and at the forward end of each guide islocated an antifriction roll 16, whose upper side alines with the lowerflange of the guide to support the edges of the bottom of the drawer.The

door 12 is provided with openings 17 to re- I13.-

as the screws 18 which engage in the sockets 19 when the door is closed.'Thus the two cooling compartments are separated from the intermediatefood compartment by two upright partitions which are'composed of slatsspaced from each other to permit free passage of cool air, and the slatsthemselves constitute the drawer guides arranged in two upright seriesand spaced from each other as shown. withdrawn and the front door openedas seen in Fig. 2, these guides and the entire interior of the foodcompartment may be cleaned with case. When the drawers are all in placeand the front door closed, there is no admission of warm air. user comesto take something out of the food compartment, one drawer, or at mosttwo drawers, are partly withdrawn as. seen in Fig. 1, and a dish ordishes taken out without opening the door or without necessarilywithdrawing any other drawer. Therefore the chilled air in the icecompartment is thrown into contact with the warm air in the roomtemporarily and only through a zone or at most two zones, each as. wideas the front panel of a drawer; and there is no opportunityfor acirculation to be set up which would as it were wash out the cold air asexplained above.

At frequent intervals the careful housewife will thoroughly clean theinterior of her ice box. The ice compartments can be reached through thetop when the tanks 13 are withdrawn. The food compartment is reached bywithdrawing all the drawers and swinging open the front door as seen inFig. 2. Thus she has access to both sides of both upright partitions,and there is no complication of structure to prevent the insertion ofthe arm with a wash cloth or brush, or even to prevent her sprinklingthe interior with lye or pouring water into it. Each of the drawers 14is provided with rolls 20 at the rear corners thereof, which roll in theguides 15, and the front is inthe form of a panel 21 which is preferablyabout as long as the drawer is wide and somewhat wlder than the draweris deep, and which is large enough to completely close into and fill theopening in the door through which said drawer passes. Each panel isprovided with a handle 22. Each of the drawers 13 is also preferablyprovided with partitions 2 3, which may be adjustable to. form thedesired compartments in each drawer. Each partition comprises a strip ofmetal havin one end thereof bent as at 24, and a cam 25" plvoted to theopposite end thereof as at 26.

This cam has a handle 27 extending therefrom by which it may be swungwhen the partition is placed as'desired.

- It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the panel When the drawers are allBut when the 21 rises considerably above the body of the drawer so thatwhen articles are disposed on the latter between its partitions they donot ordinarily risehigh enough to be struck by the top of the opening 17as the drawer is withdrawn; This view shows all of the drawers alike andtheir front panels of the same dimensions,- but I do not wish to belimited in this respect.

The .door 12 may be secured to both sides of the front opening by screwsor the like instead of the hinges as shown.

Modifications may be made within the scope of this invention withoutdeparting horizontal guides alined with the edges of the front opening;of a (1001' hinged .at one edge to said front and adapted to close theopening therein and itself having a series of transverse openings, meansfor fastening the door when closed, and a series of drawers each havinga shallow body adapted to pass through one of the door-openings andengage a pair of said guides, each drawer also having a wide front paneladapted to fit into and close its door-opening when the drawer isclosed.

2. In a refrigeratonfthe combination with a box-like body havingopenings in its top near the ends thereof and a large opening in itsfront between the other openings, two upright partitions in the bodydefining cooling compartments beneath said endmost openings and a foodcompartment between the cooling compartments, each partition beingcomposed of a series of spaced horizontal guides alined with the edgesof the front opening, and covers for closing said endmost openings; of adoor movably carried by the refrigerator front and adapted to close thelarge opening therein and itself having a series of transverse openings,and a, series of drawers slidable through said transverse openings andeachhaving a shallow body whose edges engage a pair of said guides and awide front panel adapted to close its respective opening in the doorwhen the .drawer. is closed.

x In testimony whereof T affix my signature in presence of two wi esses;

. VIOTQ A. DE OANIO.

Witnesses:

HUGO Moot, GEORGE L. THOM.-

